Relative of NYC’s ‘worst landlord’ called ‘heartless and inhumane’ by harried tenants in his own building

The scion of one of New York’s most notorious slumlord families is being accused of “heartless and inhumane” management by tenants of an Upper West Side apartment building he owns – just days after a member of the family was indicted over allegations of vile tenant harassment.

Residents of 515 Cathedral Parkway believe landlord Fred Ohebshalom has negligently let the building fall into dangerous disrepair, and even tried to drive out longtime regulated tenants so he can hike rent and cash in.

“I don’t know where to begin,” said Roger Rubin, 56, longtime tenant of over 30 years, as he tried to recall all he’s seen since Ohebshalom bought the building about two decades ago.

“They’ve run off a lot of people,” Rubin told The Post.

Some recent problems, tenants said, included severe flooding that trashed numerous apartments in December, the 12-story building’s elevator being regularly broken for eight months, and a 15-month stretch when the gas didn’t work in half the building and residents were left to cook with camp stoves purchased on their own dime.

“He made it very clear he could give less of a crap about us,” said a lifelong resident who asked to remain anonymous over fears of retribution from management, which he alleged used “scare tactics” to intimidate tenants.

Ohebshalom, whose relative and so-called “worst landlord” in the Big Apple Daniel Ohebshalom was put behind bars in March over 700 open violations at his own buildings, is the patriarch of a large family owning numerous residential buildings across the city.

Horror stories about his management style go back decades, and include allegations of terrorizing tenants with poor living conditions until they move out – so he can turn around and convert their apartments into multi-bedroom units and jack up rent, according to reports.

“He certainly has tried to get us to leave,” said Patti Anders, who’s lived at 515 Cathedral Parkway for about 40 years. “It’s been a nightmare.

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“It’s happened that over the course of many years, that several of the rent-stabilized tenants have left,” said Anders, who has twice sued Ohebshalom’s management company, Empire Management, after allegedly fighting him “tooth and nail” to address endless leaks that left her unit in a constant state of disrepair for years. She claims she’s far from alone in such fights.

“They’ve all experienced the same thing I have – which is that they never answer your call, they never get back to you about anything. They never inform anybody of what they were doing or not doing.

“Once they leave, they renovate and pile more people in,” Anders said.

Last year, the city hit Ohebshalom with a lawsuit over 300 violations that 515 Cathedral Parkway had accumulated from the Department of Buildings, the FDNY and other agencies.

“The Defendants have allowed their buildings to deteriorate to the point where they pose an imminent threat to the health and safety of the tenants and the public,” the lawsuit read. “These buildings and conditions therein constitute public nuisances and violate City laws enacted to protect tenants and safeguard buildings.

“Should the above conditions continue unabated, possible harm to occupants, passersby, and the general public is inevitable,” it added.

That case was settled in October for nearly $1.25 million, with management agreeing to carry out repairs to resolve outstanding violations under close supervision of the city.

An NYC Law Department spokesman told The Post they were “closely monitoring Empire’s adherence to the settlement and will take further legal action as necessary to ensure compliance.”

Despite the settlement, residents continue to say Ohebshalom is still neglecting the building – particularly after the flooding which hit just two months later.

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“You can’t even imagine. It should be in a movie somewhere,” said the anonymous tenant’s mother, who also requested not to be named over fears of retribution from management.

The family lives in a rent-stabilized apartment on an upper floor, and when heavy rains hit the city on Dec. 18 they found their longtime home swamped by water pouring in from the ceiling – which they said caused thousands in damage to personal property.

Roommates and Columbia University students Sahar Paz, 21, and Eli Mizrahi, 19, said their apartment was left “uninhabitable” for two months by the “waterfall” that night.

When the building finally made repairs, the roommates claimed shoddy contractors failed to let things fully dry before plastering over the damage – leading to mold flowering in the apartment.

Such poorly performed maintenance done on the cheap – band-aids which created more problems later – was a common complaint raised by residents.

“They don’t really care to be good landlords, good people more or less,” said Paz. “They just treat us like s–t. If we complain, then we just leave and they just fill us up with new naïve college students they can take advantage of.”

When the gas went out for over a year during the pandemic, tenants said they were notified by scraps of paper notes taped to their doors reading “No gas” and were given no further information for months.

Management eventually announced that electric stoves would be installed – but started by placing them in empty units rather than the apartments of stabilized residents cooking on hotplates, according to the anonymous family.

“They don’t buy anything but the cheapest replacement for anything that breaks in the apartments of people who are rent stabilized,” said Carolyn Birden, a tenant in her late 80s who has lived at 515 since the 1970s and has also sued Ohebshalom to compel him to make repairs.

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“They’ve done everything on the cheap. They have destroyed a beautiful, beautiful building.”

Like others, Birden also feels management has tried to oust her from her apartment over the years, and claimed she’s watched firsthand as other units are reshaped to fit as many bedrooms in as possible once they are emptied.

“My doctor says my blood pressure is probably high due to this,” Birden said. “It’s really been very much of a strain.”

Management once tried to evict Rubin – a travelling sports reporter – by accusing him of not calling the apartment his primary residence after tracking the addresses he sent his rent checks from, he claimed.

Conditions have led to an exodus from rent stabilized tenants, Rubin said. He estimated there were about 70 when he moved in in 1992, but that only about 20 remain.

“That’s what they want, high turnover.” Rubin said. “It’s about bringing as much money out of the building as you can.”

The anonymous tenants hoped they’d be able to keep the apartment in their family for years to come, but at this rate fear it won’t be feasible to keep up the fight against their landlord.

“This is a place that my parents would love to pass down to us,” the son said through tears. “But from how it’s looking – obviously, we’re still here, but it’s a hard battle to fight when we’re not people that come from a lot.”

Ohebshalom’s company Empire Management told The Post it has “no knowledge” of tenant harassment, and that it “works hard to minimize the impact on residents while completing major maintenance and improvement programs.

“Over the past several years, Ownership has invested substantial resources into this building to significantly reduce violations that arose from time to time and resolve tenant complaints.”

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